Sabich

Name: Sabich
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Israeli
Ingredients: 2 Aubergines, sliced 1 cm thick; 4 Eggs; 4 Pita breads; 300 g Hummus; 100 g Tahini; 3 tbsp Lemon juice; 4 tbsp Amba (pickled mango sauce); 3 Tomatoes, finely diced; 2 Cucumbers, finely diced; 20 g Parsley, chopped; 400 ml Oil for frying; 2 tsp Salt

Pita stuffed with fried aubergine, a whole hard-boiled egg, hummus, salad and two sauces — the Iraqi Jewish sabbath breakfast that became a street sandwich.

Source

Recette de Israeli street kitchens · 🏺 Traditionnel · Pita filled standing up — the food of bus stations and market alleys, assembled fast from a row of open trays and eaten with both hands.

Iraqi Jewish · Israeli street food — An ownerless traditional dish, so no cook is credited. The cited article confirms the pita filled with fried aubergine, hard-boiled egg, salad and sauces, and its origin among Iraqi Jews. More Recipes Please states that origin rather than presenting the dish as invented in Israel. Quantities and method are this book's own.

Background on Wikipedia ↗

Watch it being made · 3 videos

Unreal Grub Haaretz.com Charlie's Atlas (Chef Charlie Carrington)

⏱ 45 min🍽 4 portions🔥 620 kcal🇮🇱 Israël🌶️

HalalCasherVégétarienSans produits laitiersSans fruits à coque

Étapes

Salt the aubergine slices on both sides, lay them on a rack and leave 20 minutes. Pat them dry.
💡 Salting first is what stops the aubergine drinking the entire pan of oil. Twenty minutes, then dry properly.
Boil the eggs 9 minutes, cool them in cold water and peel.
Fry the aubergine in 1 cm of oil, 3 minutes a side, until deep brown and completely soft. Drain on a rack.
Whisk the tahini with the lemon juice and 100 ml cold water until it goes pale and pourable.
💡 Tahini seizes into a solid paste the moment water hits it, then loosens as you keep whisking. Keep going — it is not broken.
Mix the tomato, cucumber, parsley and a pinch of salt into a chopped salad.
Open each pita, line it with hummus, then aubergine, then a sliced egg, then salad. Spoon amba and tahini over the top before closing it.

💡 Astuces

Sabich came from Iraqi Jewish households, where the same components — fried aubergine, egg, salad — were the sabbath morning meal because none of it needed cooking on the day.
Amba is worth buying rather than approximating. Middle Eastern grocers stock it in jars and it keeps for months.
Build it in that order. Hummus first is what stops the pita going through, and sauces last is what stops them soaking the bread.